Campbell Lozuaway-McComsey
After months of delayed votes and several amendments, the fate of the controversial Soldiers Monument in the Santa Fe Plaza can now be determined. On Wednesday, the city council and mayor voted 5-4 to launch the investigation process of reconstructing the obelisk before potentially relocating it.
On Aug. 14, District 2 City Councilor Carol Romero-Wirth, District 1 City Councilor Alma Castro and District 4 City Councilor Amanda Chavez introduced a resolution calling for the city manager to “investigate the feasibility” of relocating the obelisk to the Santa Fe National Cemetery and removing a controversial plaque that refers to Native Americans as “savage Indians.”
Yet not everyone—including city councilors—was sold on the Santa Fe National Cemetery being the Soldiers Monument’s final destination. The majority of those who testified in front of the governing body said they supported reconstructing the obelisk on the Plaza without the offensive language.
District 3 resident Eli Bransford told councilors “there’s no question” that a vote to move the Soldiers Monument would “destroy the Soldiers Monument.”
“I think the answer to removing any historic thing from our community should always be no,” Bransford said. “Don’t take away from who we are as a Marxist would, but add to who we are as a healthy free and tolerant society would.”
Others, however, came with recommendations for a process. District 1 resident Maria Perez suggested establishing a civic assembly “to get significant and meaningful community input that allows for people to have a real deliberation and conversation” and bring together people again.
“This is an issue that has broken my heart. I see how it has eroded our civic culture and our ability as residents to get along. The obelisk is not the only monument. This is a larger issue we have to grapple with within our community,” Perez said. “I’m not here to offer a recommendation on an outcome, but rather a process…This issue is literally ripping us apart.”
While initially slated for a vote Sept. 25, a myriad of last-minute amendments nixed that plan. On Wednesday, Romero-Wirth said she tried to condense the different wants and wishes from councilors into one amendment. Wants and wishes included consulting with the State Historic Preservation Office, hiring experts to evaluate costs of both rebuilding and relocating the monument and regular status updates.
Less than two weeks before Wednesday’s meeting, Tesuque Pueblo Gov. Milton Herrera threw his support behind efforts to move the obelisk to the Santa Fe National Cemetery, telling SFR on Oct. 17 he believed it is “the best place” because “the men who fought are buried there,” and it would be safer.
Just one week later, Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester called for “common ground” on the obelisk issue but did not directly endorse any particular proposal of a solution.
“We need to find a compromise that respects the feelings and beliefs of all. I know that compromise has become a negative word but compromise is the heartbeat of any pluralistic society. And it is what is needed now as we consider what to do with the obelisk in our plaza,” Wester wrote. “Our unity is what honors our veterans, our Native Americans, and the ground that they both hallowed.”
On Wednesday, the All Pueblo Council of Governors echoed Herrera’s sentiments in a letter addressed to Webber and the City Council.
“The All Pueblo Council of Governors fully supports the relocation of the Soldiers Monument Obelisk to be erected at the Santa Fe National Cemetery and that a truthful narrative replace and reflect the collective sentiments of our leadership,” wrote Chairman James Mountain. “The time has, once again, come for us to remain standing in unity to address the history of our ancestors and heritage in truth and in good faith so that we shall learn from that history and further promulgate our respectful coexistence for those today and for those still yet to come.”
Ultimately, the calls for unity from certain residents failed when it came down to a vote, with half the City Council saying they voted in favor to put things into motion, and the other half saying the resolution wasn’t “neutral” enough to the idea of not relocating the obelisk.
District 3 City Councilor Pilar Faulkner said she couldn’t support the resolution in its current form, though she appreciated Romero-Wirth’s efforts.
“My concerns are that the resolution at its inception was based on the premise of moving the obelisk,” Faulkner said. “I can’t support anything that isn’t more neutral.”
Mayor Alan Webber said throughout discussions, he heard “agreement that we need to take steps to move forward” with deciding the obelisk’s fate, something he said Romero-Wirth’s amendment achieved.
“We’ve been tasked as elected officials to lead. Doing nothing is unacceptable,” Webber said. “This resolution has no prejudgement of an outcome. There is no prejudgement of a decision, but it does get us toward motion.”
Ultimately, Webber, Romero-Wirth, Castro, Chavez and District 1 Councilor Signe Lindell voted in favor of the resolution, while Faulkner, District 2 Councilor Michael Garcia, District 3 Councilor Lee Garcia and District 4 Councilor Jamie Cassutt voted against it.
The vote comes as city officials await a decision over a civil complaint filed against Webber by the Union Protectiva de Santa Fe. The Spanish fraternal organization sued the mayor in 2022 after Webber called for the removal of the obelisk and several other contested city monuments in June 2020 amid demonstrations in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Activists toppled the Plaza obelisk in October 2020 on Indigenous People’s Day.
Katherine Lewin
Who the city manager will be that will take on the investigation task remains to be seen. Outgoing City Manager John Blair, who announced his resignation Oct. 22 to take a job in Washington, D.C.
During a special governing body meeting Oct. 25, Webber appointed City Attorney Erin McSherry as the interim city manager, Senior Assistant City Attorney Marcos Martinez as interim city attorney and Andrea Salazar as city clerk starting Nov. 2. McSherry joined the city team as city attorney in July 2018. Martinez has worked with the city for 17 years and is its longest-serving attorney. Salazar will replace interim City Clerk Geralyn Cardenas, who will now return to her role as deputy city clerk. Salazar worked previously in the city attorney’s office before taking a job at the State Auditor’s Office. Her mother, Geraldine Salazar, served two terms as the Santa Fe County Clerk between 2013 and 2020 but ran unsuccessfully against incumbent County Clerk Katharine Clark to return to the position in the 2024 Primary Election.
City officials posted the city manager position Oct. 24. McSherry will not apply, City Communications Director Regina Ruiz noted, as both McSherry and Martinez plan to return to their previous roles.
Webber appointed Blair as Santa Fe’s 27th city manager in January 2022. Blair replaced Jarel LaPan Hill, who came into the position in January 2020. Blair served as the city’s first openly queer city manager. His last day with the city is Nov. 1. Blair earned a salary of $182,000 in the position.
Blair called for grace during his “Matters from the City Manager” section of the meeting, saying Santa Fe is “a government in transition.”
“That change is hard…There’s a white hot intensity to local government that you don’t see at the state or federal level,” he said. “Please extend the benefit of the doubt to whoever it is that you’re working with. Don’t assume the worst intention if someone disagrees with you. I am hopeful as you continue to work on these really challenging issues that face the community that you are willing to extend that courtesy to others.”
